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Serena the Healer
| upkeep_cost = | req = None | moves = | melee = | ranged = | defense = | resist = | hits = | item_slot_1 = | item_slot_2 = | item_slot_3 = | abilities = Caster ( ) Healer | random_abilities = 1 (Mage) | extra_spells = * Healing }} Serena the Healer is one of the 35 Hero units featured in Master of Magic. Serena is a non-Champion Hero. She may randomly appear for hire, in which case her Hiring Cost is by default. Alternatively, Serena can be summoned using the Summon Hero spell (or through partial failure of the Summon Champion spell), and can occasionally be found as a Prisoner reward after a successful Encounter. Serena has an odd mix of combat capabilities. Her stronger attack is a of respectable strength, with a much weaker for backup. She has average and , and a slightly-elevated score. These qualities would make Serena a good Ranged Attacker, rather than a melee-oriented Hero. On the other hand, Serena may be equipped with the basic set of Magical Items, which means that her equipment will largely improve her melee capabilities. This prevents Serena from becoming an all-powerful mage, but does contribute greatly to her survivability - which can be very desirable. One of Serena's most useful attributes is her default Healer ability. Whenever she is in an army stack with other, injured units, those units will heal an extra 20% of their each turn. This can rapidly restore a damaged army to full strength, even without having to return to a friendly town for medical aid. Furthermore, Serena also has the ability to cast spells, for which she will pay from her own pool. In addition to any spell known to her employer, Serena may also cast the Healing spell (assuming she has sufficient to do so), and is thus an extremely valuable support hero - especially for non- wizards. In addition, Serena also has 1 extra Random Ability chosen at game-start from the "Mage" category. This can greatly affect her usefulness, and determine which role she will serve best on (or off) the battlefield. Serena's Upkeep Cost is per turn, unless she has randomly acquired the Noble trait. General Description Serena the Healer is a gypsy traveler who has mastered the use of medicinal plants and healing magics. Her services are obviously much-needed in times of war. Serena is more than just a healer though, as she has acquired several useful abilities that allow her to participate in combat itself, rather than just deal with the aftermath. A rather-impressive ability to cast spells, coupled with basic knowledge of how to handle a sword, allow her the chance to practice her medicine both during and after a battle. Serena may not seem like a hero at first glance. Her appearance is simple and unassuming, with long black hair, a purple robe with simple gold decorations, and a pair of small golden earrings. The fact that she does not wear any impressive clothing like other heroes is probably intentional - meant to divert the enemy's attention away from her so that she can practice her arts in peace. Serena rides a light-brown horse. Initial Properties All data below assumes Serena is at her lowest , and without any Magical Items or Random Abilities - After all, any Hero can become devastatingly powerful after gaining several levels and powerful items. Please refer to the tables and chapters below for more information. Attack Properties Serena the Healer has two modes of attack: a and a . Her Ranged Attack is the primary of the two, with an above-average strength. The Melee Attack is not as weak as it is for some other Heroes, but is significantly less powerful than the Ranged Attack, and thus used only in emergencies. Serena's Ranged Attack has a default strength of . Given a basic To Hit chance of , she can be expected to deliver about with this attack, on average. This is a fairly-powerful attack, and can get through some armor, but does mean that Serena will need to make repeated attacks against any target in order to destroy it. This Ranged Attack delivers Magical Damage. As a result, it does not suffer penalties when used at a distance. On the other hand, targets possessing Magic Immunity will almost invariably shrug off all damage from this attack. Furthermore, the attack is associated with the , and thus may be blocked partially or completely by spells like Resist Elements. Note that Serena's uses from her own personal pool as ammunition. Each attack reduces her remaining Mana by . When she has only or fewer left, she may not use her Ranged Attack anymore for the rest of the battle. Since this is the same that Serena uses to cast spells during combat, she must decide whether to use Ranged Attacks or cast spells depending on the situation on the battlefield. is restored to full capacity at the end of each battle. Serena's Melee Attack has an initial strength of only , and is therefore much weaker than her Ranged Attack. Given a basic chance, it can be expected to deliver no more than on average, and thus will struggle to get through any but the lightest armor. Nonetheless, with sufficient Experience and Magical Items, it can actually become much more useful. Defensive Properties By default, Serena the Healer has a rather-average Defense score of . This enables her to block, on average, about from any damage source. This can protect Serena adequately from most low-tier Normal Units, but expect her to take damage often when fighting anything stronger, at least until she can gain plenty of and/or acquire strong armor. Serena possesses a below-average by default. This means that it doesn't take a lot of damage to kill Serena, and puts her in danger whenever she is sent into battle. These properties generally mean that Serena should try to avoid using her Melee Attack, in fear of the enemy's retaliation. She is also in danger whenever going into battle to support other units, further increasing the need for Magical Items to keep her safe. Serena has a slightly-elevated Resistance score compared to other Heroes, at . Though this is not nearly enough to make her immune to any Curses or other ill effects, she gets a head start towards gaining such immunity - requiring only to reach , at which point some ill effects will already consistently fail to hurt her. With additional levels she will gain immunity to more and more types of ill effects. Other Properties Serena the Healer has a basic Hero's Movement Allowance of . This is good for speeding up her movement on the overland map, through plain land tiles like Grassland and Deserts. During battle, Serena may need to use her speed to avoid her enemies. Spellcasting Serena the Healer possesses the Caster ability by default, and initially has to spare (rounded down to ). This Mana pool increases with Experience. Serena may cast any combat spell known to her employer. In addition, regardless of whether it is available to the employer, Serena also has access to the Healing spell - which is one of her best qualities. Some spells, including this extra spell, may be unavailable for casting until Serena can gain some Experience and increase her available . Note also that will draw from Serena's pool each time they are used. This will reduce the remaining Mana for spellcasting. Fortunately, is completely replenished at the end of each and every battle. To cast a spell with Serena during combat, you must select Serena, press the "Spell" button, and then select "Healer" from the pop-up list. If Serena is out of , out of Movement Points, has been killed or is otherwise incapacitated, her name will not appear on this list. Note that using Serena to cast spells does not reduce your own available Spell Skill or - she is completely independent and uses up her own skill and Mana. Finally, the Caster ability also allows Serena to augment your wizard's own Spell Skill. To perform this, place Serena in the same tile as your Fortress town. While she is inside this town, your Spell Skill is increased by half the value of Serena's Caster skill, rounded down. Healing Thanks to her default Healer ability, Serena can provide healing to other units outside of combat. On the overland map, all units stacked with Serena regain a large number of each turn. This is on top of any natural healing the unit would receive without the presence of the Serena or another Healer. The amount regained equals about 20% of the total number of this unit would have when fully healthy (and with all alive). For example, a unit of Barbarian Cavalry has per figure, with a maximum of . Its total Hit Points when fully healthy is therefore . When stacked with Serena, this unit will regain an extra 20% * = each overland turn - on top of the it regains naturally with or without her presence. In other words, any damaged unit stacked with Serena will be restored to full health within no more than 4 turns - and even faster if the stack is inside a town. Without Serena present, a unit on the brink of death could take upwards of 10 or turns to fully heal. The effect is not cumulative. Two Healers in the same stack heal other units at the same rate as one Healer would. Note that Undead units and creatures from the realm do not heal, whether naturally or with Serena's help. Experience The following table illustrates how Serena's various skills and attributes increase as she gains Experience. Attributes not appearing on this list do not improve with Experience. Also note that Serena always receives 1 extra Random Ability which may also increase with Experience, and may adjust any of the attributes listed below! Average Damage Output The following table shows Serena's average output with each of her attacks, based on her current . Note that this table completely ignores bonuses from Magical Items, if any. You can use the checkboxes to see the effect of some of the Random Abilities that Serena may pick at the start of each game. Improvement Overview As with any other Hero, Serena can eventually become very powerful as she gains Experience. Of course, Serena's Healer ability does not improve, but is available from the very start of her career - thus making her useful even without any Experience. The best improvement from Experience is probably the increase of available to Serena for the purposes of casting her Healing spell. She gains with each level, and thus can cast the spell once for every two levels she gains. Note that she needs to gain at least one before she can cast the spell at all. Additional can also be used to make more in each battle. Both of Serena's attack types improve with Experience, but neither will be too impressive even at high level. The only exception occurs if Serena acquires the Arcane Power ability as her Random Ability, in which case her Ranged Attack may become very powerful - and may even be more useful than her healing skills. Serena may also gain the Prayermaster ability as her Random Ability. This too grows with Experience, and confers good magical protection to the army she escorts. Alternatively, the Sage ability may encourage you to keep Serena away from battle, or even keep her in your Fortress town. Ability Overview Caster ( ) * This Hero may cast spells during combat, withdrawing from his/her own personal Mana Pool to do so. * The Hero may spend only per battle (rounded down to ). This Mana Pool is reset at the end of each battle - assuming the Hero survives at all. * With each gained, this Hero receives a permanent bonus of . * Spellcasting takes up all of the Hero's remaining Movement Points for the turn. * While this Hero is inside his/her employer's Fortress town, the owner's Spell Skill is increased by half the value of the Hero's Caster ability. Healer * Damaged allies stacked with this unit will regain an extra number of each turn (on the overland map). * This applies only to units that have natural healing at all. Undead and units from the realm do not heal. * The amount of extra health regained each turn equals 20% of the total amount of the damaged unit would have with all its alive. Random Abilities When a new game is started, the program randomly chooses 1 additional ability for Serena. This is called a Random Ability. The selection is done completely at random (while observing a limit on the strength of certain abilities) from the list below: Note that with only one Random Ability to pick, Serena may never acquire the "Super" version of any of the above abilities. Whichever Random Ability is picked, it is permanent. Serena will never re-randomize her abilities during the course of a single game. She may, however, pick a different ability in the next game. Many of the above abilities are helpful to Serena, and may alter the way she is used in the game. First and foremost of these, picking the Caster ability will increase Serena's available Mana by per , including the first level. This allows her to cast the Healing spell more often, thus being more useful in battle. When there is no need for Healing, this extra allows Serena to make more Ranged Attacks. As with any Magical Ranged Attacker, Serena can greatly benefit from the Arcane Power ability, which will rapidly raise her attack strength as she gains Experience. If this ability is picked, Serena's role on the battlefield may be more oriented towards dealing damage to enemy units, rather than "wasting" her on healing friendly units. As a support hero, Serena may actually prefer a non-combat ability such as Sage or Noble. This encourages leaving Serena out of combat (for her own safety), following behind an army to provide it with healing after battles, rather than during battles. Conversely, the Prayermaster ability encourages Serena to join in battles, conferring a large bonus to the troops she escorts. Equipment Serena the Healer has the following item slots: This set-up contributes primarily to Melee combat. Serena's inability to equip a Staff or Wand, or wear two pieces of Jewelry, means that Magical Items will not help her increase her Ranged Attack or Casting skills by any significant degree. The Jewelry piece, however, can be used to keep those abilities from becoming underpowered as Serena levels up. Recommended Items With a melee-oriented set-up, Serena is essentially encouraged to be a melee-oriented Hero. However, her abilities and general disposition are magical by nature, and so contradict this approach. Therefore, it is often best to choose items that will increase magical prowess by any means, as well as heavy armor items to help protect her from damage as she grants support to other units. Weapon :Serena may equip herself with either a Sword, Mace or Axe. Since she is unlikely to become a powerful Melee Attacker (even if given a very powerful attacking weapon), the best choice is probably a Sword, and with emphasis entirely or at least partly on or ("Spell Skill") bonuses. Armor :Armor is essential for Serena if she intends to go into battle in order to cast the Healing spell or assist her friends with Ranged Attacks. Heavy armor will protect her from damage, and can thus save her from death. :Heavy bonuses on the armor are essential. You can probably make do with a Shield, as it helps against incoming Ranged Attacks - the most obvious danger to this Hero. : and Movement Allowance bonuses are secondary. With a +1 or +2 Movement bonus, Serena should be fast enough to avoid any enemies trying to chase her. You may want a larger bonus if you wish Serena to quickly "hop" between different army stacks to keep them all healthy. Her default score is not too high, but will benefit enough from Experience that she doesn't need much of a boost in this property. Jewelry :With only one piece of Jewelry available for her to wear, Serena needs to choose very carefully - based on the types of functions she will be expected to perform. : ("Spell Skill") bonuses are probably the most desirable. These will allow Serena to cast more spells (especially the Healing spell), and will allow her more per battle when spell-casting is not required. :Again, bonuses are very desirable, even if Serena is already wearing a heavy armor piece. The last thing you want is to lose your Healer in the midst of a heated battle! :Other bonuses are less crucial but can still be helpful. Again, Movement Allowance can come in handy both as a defensive measure and as a way to allow more freedom of movement on the overland map. is less important as Serena already has a head-start in this field. penalties are not required - unless you have access to plenty of Curses and wish Serena to make frequent use of them during combat. :Note that any Attack Strength or To Hit bonuses on the Jewelry will apply to both of Serena's attacks. This is in fact the only way to raise Serena's Ranged Attack properties through her equipment. This is largely useful only when the Arcane Power ability has been selected as Serena's Random Ability, otherwise increasing her Ranged Attack strength may be a little pointless. It's up to your own playing style, of course. Acquisition Serena the Healer can be acquired in one of four different methods: * By hiring her as she comes to visit your Fortress town, * By casting the Summon Hero or Summon Champion spells, * By rescuing her from an Encounter zone, * By Resurrecting her after she has been killed in battle. Hiring Serena Every once in a while, a Hero will arrive at your Fortress town to ask for employment. The frequency of this event depends on your current score, the number of Heroes already under your employ, and whether or not you have particular Retorts that affect this chance. In order for Serena to appear for hire in this way, you must meet several requirements: # You must have sufficient in your treasury to hire Serena (more on this below). # Serena must not have already been killed in battle. Note that '''Serena' does not care about your wizard's score - she is not picky about whom she serves.'' Since the game randomly chooses which Hero appears during this event, there's no guarantee that Serena will ever appear. The chance, however, increases if the number of other valid Heroes dwindles (such as when most other Heroes have died in battle). The default Hiring Cost for Serena is . This is reduced to if your wizard has the Charismatic Retort. If you do not have this much at the start of a turn (after paying all Upkeep Costs), Serena will not appear for hire. In fact, if she is picked as the Hero who approaches you, and you lack the money to hire her, you are effectively forfeiting your chance to hire any Hero this turn. After agreeing to hire Serena (you can always refuse), you may give her any name you choose - she will be known as " the Healer". Her overland unit will appear at your Fortress town or, if that town's garrison is full, next to your Fortress town. Summoning Serena As a non-Champion hero, Serena the Healer can be summoned using either the Summon Hero or Summon Champion spells. However, Summon Champion only has a chance to bring Serena to you if all Champions are unavailable at the time. Once the spell is completed, the game chooses a random Hero to bring to your Fortress from a list of all available and valid Heroes. Therefore, there is no guarantee that Serena will appear when these spells are cast, unless all other Heroes are unavailable. Again, you get a chance to agree or refuse to hire Serena. If you agree, she will appear in your Fortress town and/or next to it. If Serena is hired through the use of Summon Hero or Summon Champion, there is no need to pay any Hiring Cost. However, you may still need to pay an Upkeep Cost (see below). Rescuing Serena On defeating an Encounter of at least moderate difficulty, there is a small chance that your reward will include a Prisoner previously held captive in this Encounter zone. The game can randomly pick any non-Champion Hero to be rescued in this way - except Heroes that have already died while in your service. Your and are disregarded, and there is no need to pay any Hiring Costs. Note that if the army that beats that particular Encounter already contains 9 units, you will never be rewarded with a Prisoner. Resurrecting Serena For most wizards, losing Serena in battle removes her from the game permanently. She will never appear again. For -wielding wizards, however, who have access to the Resurrection spell, it is possible to bring Serena back to life after she has died. In this case, Serena returns to your Fortress town, with no Magical Items, but keeping all Experience she had prior to her death. You may repeatedly resurrect Serena each time she dies. Upkeep Costs Once Serena is in your employ, you must pay her an Upkeep Cost of at the start of each and every turn. Failure to pay this price due to lack of results in Serena leaving your employ. This is not permanent however: Serena may still be acquired in any of the above methods with no penalty. Note that if Serena picks the Noble Random Ability, she will demand no Upkeep Costs - and instead contribute to your treasury every turn! Alternate Names Other wizards can also have a Healer, but they are different characters (what happens to one has no effect on the others), and go by different names, as follows: Category:Units Category:Heroes Category:Non-Champions